Although there are certain general conventions concerning the configuration of interconnectors in electronic devices, there are still variations which exist from manufacturer to manufacturer. In particular the locational placement of power and signal connections to the devices are subject to much variation. To some extent, variations in location when making device interconnections have been dealt with by the use of flexible cables, which can be attached to connectors in varying spatial locations within the reach of the cable length, assuming the configuration of pins in the male portion align correctly with the corresponding female sockets. Each cable then must be manually guided to the correct position and pressed into position, taking care that the approach angles are within certain limits such that the connector pins are not bent in the process.
This works adequately for applications where few devices are used or the devices are expected to remain attached with infrequent subsequent replacements. However, for applications where devices are plugged and unplugged repeatedly, as when large lots of devices are tested, or are connected for data transfer or software imaging, this manipulation of cables is cumbersome and time intensive. For these kinds of high-repetition applications, a more suitable method would be to use connectors which allow the devices to be installed into a multiple device array structure. The connectors would be stationary, perhaps mounted on a common backplane, so that very minimal manipulation is required, and perhaps the process could even be automated. Unfortunately, the variations in position of the connectors from manufacturer to manufacturer make this impractical, as a backplane set up for one kind of device would not be usable for devices from a different manufacturer.
One example, which demonstrates the more general state of the industry, is the hard drive device, or HDD, as it will be referred to for brevity. The HDD adheres to a number of industry standards, including the MCC specifications which establish a matrix of length, width, and heights for various sizes commonly known as 3.5" full height, 3.5" half height, 2.5" full height, 2.5" half height, and so on. Mounting screw sizes and locations, as well as electrical connections, power, signaling, protocol, and more, are standardized within each drive size class and sub-class, however the exact locations of the electrical connections were not standardized. All of the hard drives in the very popular sizes, such as those used by computer manufacturers, are reasonably similar in the placement of the external printed circuit board on the bottom surface of the design, and generally position the electrical connectors in a similar area.
The hard drives within a sub-class generally have the same number of electrical connections, for example 4 power contacts in a row of equal spacing and 40 signal contacts in 2 rows of consistent and equal spacing. They also have common dielectric contact housings which extend outward surrounding their respective power or signal contacts. It is practical therefore to consider all 4 power connections as a set with 1 positional location in relationship to external references. Similarly, all 40 signal connections are treated as a set in relationship to the external references. There are generally variations in the positional relationship of the power contact set with the signal contact set and both the power contact set and signal contact set vary in relationship to the external references of the hard drive assembly. Therefore attempting to make connections with a second type of device with a stationary backplane which has been configured for a particular first device type will most likely be unsuccessful.
Thus there is a need for an apparatus and method of interconnecting electronic devices which allow high repetition usage, which are adaptable to wide positional variation in power and signal connector sets, and which allows multiple units to be processed with minimal or no human manipulation.